The STS Talk-Walks

A monthly walking seminar at the University of Oxford 2010-2011

As an experiment, we introduced a new activity at InSIS in the 2010/2011 academic year: The STS Talk-Walks. Once a month, we met up on a Friday afternoon for a walk during which we explored a question that cut across our work. Everyone was welcome, whether they considered themselves an STS person or not.

The idea had traveled to Oxford from the University of Amsterdam, where Annemarie Mol and Anna M. Mann had been hosting a Walking Seminar for a while. As they write, "talking-while-walking can enhance thinking in ways not attainable behind a desk or in a seminar sitting down."

Travelling: how to make our work travel? (21 January 2010)

What is the story or point in your work that is most to dear and important to you? What would change if your audience believed you?

Do you write as if you want to convince someone? An implied ‘enemy’? Bystanders? Or do you write for your intellectual friends? When to do what? What about writing for ‘the big shots’ vs. writing for ‘the next generation’?

Who might already be interested in your topic? In your empirical field? In your theoretical inventions? In your ways of working, methods for doing research, styles of writing?

Who else might you actively interest? What does that take: how to link the interests of ‘the other’ to your work? Which ‘other’ to target in that attempt and which other others to forget about (for now)?

What other challenges are there: language? Local case studies? What are good ways to bypass a lack of interest in other places? What to do if part of the audience has lots of background knowledge about these places while others do not? What about discipline? There are still huge investments in Sociology, Anthropology, etc.: how to relate to that?

Spinning: what is it to spin a topic? (20 May 2011)

How do you spin your research in your papers, talks and presentations? Do you have some good examples from your recent work? What made you spin a topic in one way or the other?

What are the practicalities of spinning? What do you find easy/difficult/challenging/etc. about it?

Is it possible to distinguish different strategies or modes of spinning? What has worked for you, what hasn’t? Is there an ‘ethics’ of spinning?

How useful is it to talk about spinning vis-à-vis related concepts like framing or turning? For example, there has been a lot of talk about ‘turns’ in STS — turns to technology, ontology, practice, and even to turns. Have you been engaged in any of these? What are your observations and what can we learn from them?

Visualising: what is it to visualise? (17 June 2011)

Have you used any visualizations in your papers, talks and presentations recently? How did you use them and on what occasions? Do you have some good examples (diagrams, charts, photos, drawings, maps, etc.)?

What practical work goes into creating visualizations and making them travel? Who, which or what is actually being visualized? What do you find easy/difficult/ challenging/etc. about it?

What are the risks involved in visualizing? What worked for you, what didn’t? Has something ever gone wrong? Do you have examples of visualizations you particularly appreciate?

How come that ‘visualization’ has gained such currency? Has it, actually?

(brief summary here, many thanks to Tanja Schneider who suggested the topic)

The Algorithmic Talk-Walk (22 July 2011)

The final STS Talk-Walk this academic year will adopt a special format: instead of taking our usual route along the Thames, we will be guided by an algorithm.

Following the example of inventive anthropologists, we will use an algorithm that can be queried for directions at every junction, crossroads or otherwise ambiguous point on our journey. The algorithm will be agreed upon at the beginning of the walk and could be anything from throwing a dice to flipping a coin or more sophisticated methods.

This special edition of the STS Talk-Walk will allow us to reflect on the workings and requirements of algorithms, navigation, discovery and fieldwork – and how these might relate to our research projects. We will conclude our journey in a (presumably) local pub – wherever that may be.

(brief essay here; many thanks to Torben Elgaard Jensen for his input and support)

Photos

What is it to compare a PhD student and a cow?

Chris mastering an obligatory passage point.

STS scholars discover the English countryside.

A skeptical view on the sun.

An obligatory group photo.

Thames Path, seconds before the talk-walkers arrive.

STS travellers - and an invisible photographer.

A classic ending with limited applicability in STS research.

An almost self-explanatory visualisation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does this work?

Each talk-walk is guided by a question or theme that participants are invited to explore. For example, recent issues tackled by the Amsterdam group include "What is it to compare?" or "How to make our work travel?". We will meet at Saïd Business School and walk-talk for 2-3 hours along the Thames or another enjoyable route.

The actual seminar works as follows: each participant will pair up with another talk-walker every 20 minutes so that (ideally) everyone has a chance to talk-walk with everyone else. We will wrap up briefly at the end of the walk.

How long are these walks?

While we are not aiming to make this a sporting exercise, please mentally prepare for a walk between 10 and 15 km. At average walking speed, this should take us not more than 2-3 hours. Depending on motivation, we can go for a cup of tea or coffee after the seminar.

Anything to bring along?

Not really. Bring whatever you need to talk-walk comfortably. That is, good shoes and maybe a rain jacket, hat or scarf against cold wind. Also, bring an open mind and some initial thoughts on the theme. Specifically, think about how the theme relates to your own work. The guiding question might be useful.

What if it rains?

Then we will walk in the rain.

Do I need to sign up?

It would be great if you could give us a shout if you would like to join. Just e-mail malte.ziewitz@sbs.ox.ac.uk.

You can also join our mailing list to receive regular updates. To subscribe, just send an email to the-sts-talk-walks-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk and follow the instructions in the message you receive in response.